


perfectly in line (let us shine side by side)

by Dusty_Skyes



Series: Land, Sea, and Sky [13]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: AU - Everyone lives, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Corruption, Eavesdropping, M/M, ancient rito tongue, ganon's defeat shifts things, meddling meddlers meddle, oh look who FINALLY got a clue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 00:04:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10502268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusty_Skyes/pseuds/Dusty_Skyes
Summary: It begins when the Knight and the Champions go off to war.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. I can't believe I wrote 12 parts for this series and I'm still going. 
> 
> Title is from the poem "Of Life and Energy" by Sai.

     It begins when the Knight and the Champions go off to war. As much as Sidon wants to go with, he knows he can't. He most likely won't be of any use on the battlefield, not when the Master Sword can only be wielded by Link. But he can stay here in the Zora's Domain, can watch over his people and fight for their safety.

     He can attempt to hunt down that damn Corrupted Zora once and for all.

     Snatching up his trident, he hurries out of the palace just in time to see Vah Ruta fire its laser. The bright blue beam shakes the earth as it roars across the sky, and Sidon can just barely see his sister's form standing atop the head. Then the attack fades out and vanishes into nothing, and Vah Ruta shuts down. The blue light that has always surrounded it disappears and Mipha leaps off of the top, diving a distance that makes Sidon's heart stop into a pool of water.

     She zips through it right up to his side, practically vibrating with excitement, and grins a sharp-toothed smile at him. “If you're going to hunt down the Corrupted Zora, may I join you?”

     “Of course,” Sidon says, and leads her into the nearby woods. Normally they'd take a Rito with them for their excellent eyesight and archery skills, but Teba is sulking somewhere in the palace and Kass doesn't really like to fight in the first place so they're going without for today. It's all right though, Sidon is irritated enough that he brought his own bow.

     They slink through the forest, careful to never let the other out of their sight, and make their way steadily deeper. The Corrupted Zora's den seems to be in the Forest of Zoras, something that annoys Sidon to no end. If the damn thing gets away again, it will be impossible to follow it to its den. Especially since the mangrove roots pretty much make fighting underwater a chore and the Zora seems to know the area far better than they do.

     Sidon grinds his teeth together quietly, idly shifting his grip on his trident. They're in one of the darkest parts and his head-fin won't stop _twitching_. He has the vaguest sensation that they're being watched and he really doesn't like it.

     “It's here,” Mipha whispers, dropping into a more defensive position. A spot in the water in front of them shimmers, then leaps, and the Corrupted Zora explodes out of the water. It lunges straight at them, orange eyes glowing bright with the taint, and Sidon whips his spear around in an attempt to hit it. A flash of the lure in its forehead and the creature dissolves into water, splashing across the path and vanishing back into the surrounding liquid. She curses and spins around, pressing her back against her brothers own, and readies her trident once more, eyes searching the water around them. “I am _really_ starting to hate this thing's ability!”

     “ _Agreed_ ,” Sidon grinds out, golden eyes narrowed with rarely seen fury. He's usually so optimistic that this level of ticked really only happens in nightmares. “I'm going to _stake_ this thing.”

     Mipha swings her trident out when it tries to lunge at her again, but only succeeds in knocking it back a couple feet. It hisses at her, lure flashing orange, then dives back into the water. It swims around them, leaping over the path as it attempts to catch them off guard. Behind her, Sidon curses when it lashes at his form and he strikes out with his trident, Seabane swinging through the air. The Corrupted Zora skids away, tainted orange blood oozing from a gash on its side, and snarls. It takes a step forwards, then stumbles and collapses with a scream of agony.

     At the same time, a ripple of pure light echoes above them, and suddenly the impending darkness that has always been present is just gone. High above them, the dark clouds that have been hovering ever since Link went to fight Ganon fade slowly into clear sky. “He did it,” Mipha whispers, joy and disbelief in her voice. “He really did it!” 

     Sidon laughs freely, picks her up, and spins her around in a circle. Calamity Ganon is  _gone_ . 

     Behind them comes a low whine. Sidon whirls and snatches up his trident, turning the sharp points onto the Corrupted Zora. It twists in on itself for a moment, then slowly uncurls. The skin that was once transparent is more opaque now, edging towards a milky white. Veins that are now blue course underneath and it blinks horrified orange eyes at them. Then, with a frightened squeak, it hurls itself into the water surrounding them and vanishes into the darkness within a second. 

     “Well,” Mipha says flatly, “that happened.” Sighing under her breath, she grabs her brother and begins to drag him back towards the palace. It's time to celebrate.

(The Calamity is now  _gone_ . They're free.)

**oOo**

     Where it was once dreaming, it is awake now. It whines faintly under its breath, gingerly pressing a hand against the wound in its side. Slowly it clicks its tongue, tasting the water that surrounds it. Fresh and clean and nothing like the taint that used to permeate their skin. It is free now.

     It—no, once it was a he.  _He_ is free now. The Zora whistles faintly and clicks his tongue once again, tasting the blood that dribbles out of his wound. It's clean and irony, like it should be, and no longer tastes of rotting flesh and despair. He welcomes it. There are vague memories of someone singing to him and he hums the tune carefully, then picks up speed and watches as the wound along his side slowly closes. 

     As it should be, then.

     But who was he?

     He doesn't know anymore. It's been so long since he had a name and he no longer recalls who he used to be. But it's all right. He doesn't really have the taste for flesh anymore, not now that he's been released. And if he's being honest with himself, the thought of eating anything except fish and poultry is definitely starting to turn his stomach.

     Especially the idea of eating a Zora. Or the Rito. Or any of the other species here in Hyrule. The fact that he used to eat them is even worse than the idea.

     It takes a couple days but eventually he gets used to collapsing into water again. Before he was doing it entirely on instinct, fear and anger fueling his movements. Now he can melt into liquid quite easily, though some of the earlier attempts nearly led to him getting stuck halfway through a tree. That had been quite the adventure.

     He avoids the Zora, especially the red ones, because he doesn't know how to act around them. But it—the Zora's Domain, he thinks it's called—is just so pretty that he can't resist, and he often finds himself exploring the area while liquid. His form is practically invisible and the people there are far more interested in celebrating the end of the Calamity than taking note of a slightly suspicious shadow.

     When things actually die back down, though the vague sensation of cheer never fades, he's more careful as he explores the area. It's then that he runs across two Rito in the garden. He freezes in the water, then darts close to the shoreline, using the shadow of the nearby tree across the surface of the water to his advantage. But the two haven't noticed him. They're far more interested in whatever it is that they're saying.

     The language seems to be a series of chirps and whistles that are influenced by tone and different fluctuations on the sounds themselves. One of the Rito, the deep-blue-feathered one, seems to be teaching the other, a much broader Rito of pale blue feathers. He listens quietly for that lesson, learning the chirps for 'hello', 'I am', 'goodbye', and a few others, then sticks around to find out when the next lesson will be.

     Chirping is such an odd way to communicate, but it's something he can learn to speak with others. He doesn't remember how to use his vocal chords, nor does he remember how to form words. But chirping? Chirping he can do.

     It's only a day or two later that he comes across a white-feathered Rito arguing with a pretty red Zora lady. His feathers are bristling, fluffed up to twice their size, and he seems furious.

     He tilts his head and sidles closer in the water, then goes an extra step and melts into the liquid. The Rito snarls, “Kass will never love me back, dammit!” and takes off, shedding white feathers everywhere in his haste to leave. The Zora lady makes a motion like she's wringing his neck before burying her face in her hands. He can hear her muffled scream, but collects the pretty feathers that fell in the water and disappears downstream to look at them.

(They're just as pretty as the Rito who left them.)

**oOo**

     “You can't just hide that you're in love forever,” Revali says flatly, halfway through their lesson on the ancient tongue.

     Kass nearly bites clean through his tongue in his surprise and turns a freezing glare on the Rito Champion. “ _Watch me_ ,” he grinds out.

     Revali leaps to his feet, feathers fluffing outwards. “Oh, so you're just going to live a half-life pining after him? That's not a way to live!”

     “It might not be a way to live, but it's what I have chosen!” Kass hisses right back. He doesn't want to deal with this. Being here in the Zora's Domain has been wonderful, but he really could do without their misguided attempts to find something between him and Teba.

     That's just it, though. There _isn't_ anything between him and Teba. He loves Teba, but isn't loved back. It's frustrating, sure, but Kass has long since learned to live with it.

     Deciding that he isn't going to listen to this, Kass whirls around and takes off, using his broader form to his advantage and winging forward with far more takeoff speed than he usually would. He zips upwards, crests the treeline, and is gone before Revali can even open his own wings. There's cursing behind him, but Kass doesn't care and uses his head start to vanish into the Forest of Zoras.

     No one has seen the Corrupted Zora around lately, so he figures it might be safe enough for him to hide in there for a couple of hours, then return. A clearing blooms up and he lands in it, dropping by the edge of the water to bury his face into his wings. “Dammit,” Kass mutters, furious with both himself and Revali.

     There's a tug on one of his wings and Kass pulls them away only to come face-to-face with the Corrupted Zora. He thinks his shriek and subsequent recoil is a perfectly acceptable response but the other merely blinks at him and then warbles a chirp. It's one Kass knows well. _“Hello.”_

     “Hello,” he returns, caught off guard by the sound of the ancient tongue coming from the Corrupted Zora. Then he looks the Zora over and blinks. Their skin is less transparent now, more of a milky color that ripples slightly, but their eyes are still a bright orange. The Zora doesn't feel tainted though, and Kass relaxes. Pale fins extend around their waist almost like a skirt and the Rito can see that these are tinted a pale shade of blue, though the gauzy fin decorations—the ones that are blue and yellow on Sidon—are a much stronger shade of blue. Almost the same color as the sky on a perfectly clear day. And it has gold rings with silver centers running down each fin, connecting the top and the bottom with a smooth line.

     “ _Hello,”_ the Zora chirps again, poking at his feathers with a clawed hand. Vaguely amused, because this Zora has the curiosity of a year-old Rito child, Kass gingerly pulls out several feathers that are already loose and hands them over. Almost immediately they're hidden away on its form.

     “I am Kass.” It probably won't hurt to tell the other who he is. The Zora chirps his name a few times, then wags its tail-fin, shrugging a shoulder to one side. It clearly understands the common tongue, but can't seem to speak. Kass frowns. “Do you not have a name?” he asks, frowning again when the other shakes its head. “Do you want me to give you one?”

     The other chirps happily, crossing its arms on the bank so it can lean on them.

     Kass can't help the bubble of amusement that forms in his chest and barks out a laugh. “Do you have a gender?”

     “ _He, him, they, them,”_ the Zora returns immediately.

     “Muir? I think it means 'sea',” Kass muses at last. In front of him, the Zora tilts his head to the side, almost like he's thinking it over. Then he nods.

     “ _Yes. Like.”_ Muir makes a giggling noise. _“Mad?”_ he asks, then corrects himself seconds later with, _“Upset.”_

     Kass sighs and drops his head into his hands, then decides that it probably won't matter much if he spills. “I like a friend of mine,” he finally admits. “He's amazing and I went and fell in love, but he doesn't love me back. And now everyone around me keeps trying to meddle and I'm not really appreciating it.”

     Muir blinks at him, seemingly thinking it over. Then he vanishes under the surface of the water. Kass curses faintly when he's splashed and wipes the droplets off of his beak, cursing again when the Zora reappears with white feathers in his hands. _“Rito?”_ he asks, offering them, and Kass twitches slightly at being figured out so quickly. Muir can't speak more than a few words of the ancient Rito tongue—how did he learn them anyway?—but he's definitely intelligent. It's a little unnerving, actually.

     “It's creepy how fast you figured that out,” Kass bluntly informs the other. He's never really been that good at dancing around the truth and it's just easier to admit it right then and there.

     The Zora lets out chirps that have no meaning and collapses on the edge of the bank. It's only seconds later that Kass realizes that Muir is _laughing_ at him. He scowls and starts to get up, pausing only when there's another tug on his wings. _“Sorry,”_ the Zora says. Then his face scrunches up slightly. It's actually pretty cute. Clearly deciding on something, Muir twists around in the water. _“Follow?”_ he asks.

     “You want me to follow you?”

     “ _Yes.”_

     Well, it's not like Kass has anything better to do right now. “Sure, why not,” he sighs out as he gets to his feet completely. Muir's form zips a few feet away, pausing to make sure that Kass can see him. Then, much to the Rito's surprise, the Zora lights the rings on his body, the yellow lines glowing brightly in the dim water. Spreading his wings, he follows. It's a little sobering to realize that only reason he doesn't lose sight of Muir is because he lit his own bio-luminescence. Despite the Zora's milk-colored skin, he's fast and silent, cutting through the water a a speed that Sidon would be hard pressed to match.

     Eventually they end up in the gardens and Muir shuts off the glow as he pulls himself out of the water and leads Kass towards an open window. The Rito parts his beak, but finds a clawed hand clamped over it. _“Shh,”_ the Zora hisses. _“Hear.”_

     Muir probably wants the chirp for 'listen', but Kass isn't here to teach him. He closes his beak and tilts his head to the side. Above him come the sounds of voices. Teba and Mipha, apparently. “You!” the Zora princess spits, sounding three seconds away from throttling Teba. Kass knows that feeling well. “I can't _believe_ you!”

     “Fuck off already and leave me alone!” Teba snarls, and his feathers have probably fluffed to twice their size.

     “I can't believe you!” she repeats. “Head over fins in love and you can't tell him?”

     “I said to leave me alone, woman.” Teba's voice drops to a dangerous growl and Kass gets up. He doesn't need to hear this.

     But Muir grabs him and drags him back down. For a Zora that's a lot smaller than him, Muir has a surprising amount of strength. _“Hear,”_ he hisses.

     Kass has missed a bit of the argument, but he's perfectly in time to hear Mipha bellow, “You are a _coward_ , Teba!”

     Teba snarls in fury. “Coward?” he roars right back, “how can I tell Kass that I love him when all I seem to do is hurt him?” and Kass' world drops out from beneath his feet.

(Teba is in _love_ with him.

Goddess, how did he _miss_ that?)

 


End file.
